13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Mmmm yes, this is the next stage of my woodland plan - lots of little blue bulbs. I have always liked squills, especially a rather fluffy one called S.litardierei while my eldest son has an impressive collection of numerous muscari....and of course ipheon, chionodoxa et al. Along with omphalodes and the start of my tiny mertensia colonies, in my mind's eye, I see swathes of cerulean blue. Note to self - save seeds of Geranium sylvestris.
Ah trilliums. Years ago, these were some of the first things I sowed from seed. Yep, it took years. If only they had lasted as long in my garden. Somewhere along the line, the fact that they require acidic peaty soil failed to penetrate my dimwitted brain.....so my few wake robins dwindled and vanished after less than 3 years (unsurprisingly, in my sandy alkaline soil).
Guess I got carried away with my feelings. The P. paniculata 'Feelings Series' just brought out the emotional side. I saw Phlox 'Natural Feelings' & warmed up to that one, it doesn't look like a Phlox at all but some people (on another forum I won't mention) didn't warm up to it at all, so there you go. Its all in eye of the beholder. Red Feelings didn't do as much for me but suddenly I find I am overwhelmed with feelings.
SB, you didn't report your feelings about the plant & since you do like Phlox, it would be interesting to hear. Campanula seems to have gotten carried away with impulsive feelings on this one or at least monetary ones + it seems she has some composition in mind. I rather like it because its different but then, as I said upfront, I'm not a phlox person so my opinion is nearly worthless on the subject & needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I would never comment on the more typical kinds, they aren't my cup of tea so I know next to zero about them.
Interesting, Jenny.
Almost all of my gardening is also maintaining mixed perennial beds.
Had never heard of quack grass, though handling the problem sounds a bit like my past experience with ribbon grass. I would never have planted the latter myself.
I also plant and maintain perennials close together, which certainly gets to shading out seeding weeds. Runners like bindweed present another problem.
I don't use any chemicals, just digging, if necessary. I'd feel that periodically disturbing the ground (let alone plant division) may be generally beneficial to many perennials.
As they say, avoidance of problem plants, horticultural or weed (If at all possible), makes perennial garden maintenance so much easier.
I'll be on the watch for quack grass.
I bought a pair at Lowes and I LOVE them! Best purchase ever. Has changed my gardening world. lol They were the last pair, the others seemed like they wouldn't hold up as well.
Here they are:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_264011-1492-1BC-350_0__?productId=1075967&Ntt=knee+pads&pl=1ätURL=%3FNtt%3Dknee%2Bpads&facetInfo=
Others must have noticed the value, because I had gotten the last pair. I plan on buying a backup pair if they get them back in stock.
The sweet woodruff will not bloom all season, and as it is a groundcover, will spread. I think it is a beautiful plant - love the foliage as much as the blooms - but I would not use it as a bed plant (I have it in my woodland area as a groundcover.)
I'm having a hard time thinking of perennials that will bloom as long as you'd like, and agree with laceyveil regarding foliage and texture, etc. One plant I have along the edge of some beds is geranium biokovo. The foliage is quite nice, IMO, and turns a nice bronzy color in fall as as well. In some of my beds it can get a bit ratty in high summer, but I neglect my gardens an awful lot.
Ah, I just read back through your original post and see that you already have geraniums. Sorry! Although I still think this is a good one! :)
For full sun, some of the creeping sedums may work. I absolutely love creeping sedums, especially the ones that turn reddish in fall and are fairly evergreen. However, depending on the bed the soil may be too rich. Perhaps give one a try and see? Just do your homework - some of them are fairly aggressive (while my kamschaticum is not spreading nearly enough for my purposes!)
Dee
How about a combo of Latin and common names? I sent my husband a list of what I bought at the sale at the local agricultural center. Streptocarpus Blue Birds was on the list.....he asked if I bought strep throat for blue birds. Poor plant....that is what I call it now. :)
Check the Vermicomposting forum (link below). The worms don't go into the garden, they won't survive, and you won't be able to make more worm compost. You have to harvest the compost, then you can make worm tea - lots of recipes and suggestions on the Vermicomposting forum. You pour this on your plants and stand back. I use a homemade screen to separate the worms from compost, but there are different ways to do it.
Cheryl
Here is a link that might be useful: vermicomposting forum
FWIW, Mine are planted at the base of oak trees. They grow and multiply, but slowly. I'm not sure I would call them "flourishing", but having never planted them elsewhere, or, for that matter, having never even seen them in anyone else's garden, I don't know how to compare mine to others planted in different situations.
Just this year I noticed about half a dozen new plants, a bit farther away from the originals, and they too have seeded - and are growing - under other oak trees. I do believe oaks are easier to plant under than other trees, so I don't know if that should be taken into account.
Dee
Mine are planted under a Linden tree (Tilia americana) which do not have particularly aggressive roots. They are on a slope so it is fairly dry (I have well-drained sandy loam). There are other woodland plants in the area. They seem to be doing okay.
Here's a couple pics I took today. These are fairly mature plants started from seed, 2nd or maybe 3rd year blooming, which means they are probably 5 years old -
Here's a couple 2nd year youngsters -
They are always good for that late summer shot of electric blue
Of course I agree Campanula. The flowers are the most amazing shade of blue. (Here is some flowers from a couple of falls ago).
They are one of the first perennials to show life each spring.
(Below are my two plants as of today; very vigorous).
But it has been my experience that the stalks can flop if there is an extended dry spell.
I did a bit of an experiment last season and for one of the two clumps I have I did a "Chelsea Chop". It did still bloom and of course was less tall overall.
Not only have I never seen Buddleia reseeding around waste places/roadsides in this area, I can't even get it to survive in my garden, so I don't see invasiveness as an issue locally.
I am highly dubious about the proposition that non-native plants supply no nourishment to native insect/animal species. Clearly chickadees and lots of other birds/animals have adapted to using these plants. There was an article in the Sunday New York Times last week from a garden writer emphasizing this (and recommending that people plant a wide variety of native and non-native plants to nourish the local wildlife)*.
*this writer's recommendations probably should be taken with a grain of salt, seeing as how his article was primarily about gardening with climate change (he seems to think that a single colder than normal winter is good evidence of climate change, which actually is documented not by single seasonal variation but changes occurring over many years).
Here is a link that might be useful: gardening for climate change
This post was edited by eric_oh on Sat, May 10, 14 at 11:14
"Potentially" means maybe. I think it is a little overzealous to wish to ban every "potentially" invasive plant. People have been growing butterfly bush for a hundred years on the East Coast and they are not invasive. They are not even completely hardy here in many cases.
I have 3 nice clumps of LQ, let its stalks stay over winter for the last 2 years and never had seedlings.
I found one plant which looked like a reverted version, brown center and yellow petals, but that had just 3 stalks very near to the original, so I rather thought it was some kind of mutation- not a seedling. It was just as tall as the pale yellow flowering stalks, so I labeled it and removed it in fall.
My Helianthus LQ does reseed lightly. Only a few seedlings, which resemble the parent closely, but nothing out of hand. However it IS a rampant spreader for me, and it runs roughshod over the other perennials and grasses nearby.
3 years ago the voles did a number on the patch. They probably ate 90% of it, along with the Baptisia, some Hostas, Eupatorium, etc. That was one instance where I was kind of glad that the voles had eaten them back. 2 years later you wouldn't even know the voles had touched them, whereas it is taking the other perennials much longer to rebound from extensive vole damage.
Not Astrantia. I agree that what we are seeing appears to be the work of someone who had some idea about plants.
Yes, and they had to move and I found it and now I'm learning about all these wonderful plants and hopefully I'll do good by them. Thank you all for your suggestions and help.